Unification Church

The Unification Church is a new religious movement which originated in Korea in 1954, founded by Sun Myung Moon; its followers were nicknamed Moonies as a result. The church is often referred to as a cult due to its highly unusual practices, including mass weddings of thousands of people, claiming that Jesus had not done enough, and for its claim that Moon's family was a "perfect family" and that they could create perfect families.

It originated from Christianity, and Reverend Moon claimed that, in 1936, Jesus appeared to him and told him that he wanted to establish a kingdom of God on Earth. The sacred text is Divine Principle, which interprets the Bible. The goal of the faith is to be in harmony with God, and Moon believed in the myth of Adam and Eve and their separation from God, and that Jesus came to restore the relationship with God. However, they believe that what Jesus did was not enough, as he could not marry or fully restore the relationship. They believe in God and in Jesus, but that Jesus was not enough, and that there would be a third Messiah who would arrive - Moonies believe that the third Messiah (also called the Third Adam) would come to Korea and would marry and restore God's kingdom to Earth. The faith believes that different spirit mediums, including Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad, came and spoke to Moon about world events. In 2012, Moon died, and his wife Hak Ja Han became the new leader of the church. Family became essential in the faith tradition as a result.

The church is also known for its unique mass wedding traditions, in which religious leaders pick people's spouses. In one occasion, 2,000 couples engaged in a mass wedding at a stadium in Seoul, with some of them having known each other for just a few months before their marriages. People are matched up through church databases, and they are brought in to meet their spouses shortly before marrying. During the 1960s, many children broke away from their families to join the church, and, by the 2010s, the children of the original converts made up the majority of those marrying in the mass wedding ceremony.